In the kingdom of Ashine the Cavalier began as the mounted bodyguard unit for a lady who fought on the front lines. The idea spread and now every noble lady has a Lord Cavalier to protect her. These bodyguards have become well known enough to be a common title among the nobility over all of Pedrith.
https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-necromancer-and-cavalier.html
Starting Equipment: Steelsilk Gambeson (Medium Armor), Weapons of Choice, Contract of Cavaliership, spurs.
Background Question: What charge have you failed in the past?
XP Trigger: Protect your charge from danger
Class Type: Warrior
Starting Stamina: 10
Warrior Ability: You may push yourself in combat to gain a +1d bonus to attacks.
A: | Cavalier's Charge | |
|---|---|---|
B: | Deeper than Blood, +1 Bond. +1 Attack per Action | |
C: | The Two as One, +1 Bond. | |
D: | With One Blood, +1 Bond. |
Pick either a mount or another character to be your Charge. You can take attacks for your Charge if you're within range of the attack (choose whether or not to take it before damage is dealt). Get a Bond with your Charge.
You and your Charge may communicate nonverbally if you're anywhere within line of sight of each other, or in close proximity (touch range, though you need not be touching)
Your Charge may use abilities as if they were in your space if you can communicate with them. You get a free extra action on your Charge's combat turn.
Your Charge cannot die while you still live and can communicate with them.
Bonds
Aerial Ace. If your charge can fly, you can fall from any height without dying so long as you either fall from or onto them. You still take damage, but it can't reduce you below 1 Stamina.
Blood Bag. If you're in physical contact with your charge, you can hurt yourself to heal them an equivalent amount of Health.
Blood of the Covenant. If you're best friends with your charge, you can take the negative effect of failed saves in each others' stead if within range of the effect.
Broodmaster. If your charges are animals, monsters, or constructs, you can have two smaller charges instead of one big one (the smaller ones can't be mounts or mount-sized).
Bodyguard. If you're within arm's reach of your charge, you each get +1 armor.
Charger. If your charge is a mount, they can move at double speed. If they move full speed before an attack, they deal damage with advantage.
Doubly-Sworn. If your charge is also a cavalier, whenever they take damage for you, you can make a free attack against whatever dealt the damage.
Follow By Example. If your charge is your superior in rank, hirelings, mercenaries, and other allies under your command won't lose loyalty for doing risky things they see you do first, including going into combat.
I'm Your Gun. When you sacrifice something for your charge, you get +2d on something they told you to do.
Love Conquers. If you're in love with your charge, you can make saves in their stead to save them from danger.
Mage-Auxilary. If your charge has magic dice (or other casting dice), you get a casting die and learn 1 spell (or form+technique, etc) they know.
Reciprocity. If your charge has more hit dice or levels than you, they can take attacks for you as if they were your cavalier.
Scalpel! If they can heal, whenever they heal you or heal another with your help, dice rolled to heal are rolled with advantage.
Student. If your charge has class templates, get a class ability they have.
Surrogate Parent. If you raised your charge from birth (or hatching), you can increase one of their stats by 2.
Teacher. If you can give your charge advice, you can let them use your skills to try again after they fail at a task.
Veilbound. If you die, you haunt your charge, bound to their service even in death. You can still act and speak through them, and they have access to all your abilities, which they can use with your permission (or you can use through them, with their permission).
Water of the Womb. If you and your charge are related by blood, you have perfect telepathy over any distance.
When your charge dies, you can either pledge yourself to a new charge (but your old bonds might no longer apply), or pledge yourself to their memory and become a Cavalier Vengeant. As a Cavalier Vengeant, you can still use all your bonds so long as you have a physical token to remember them by, but you can't level further in Cavalier.
Sample Mounts
These mounts hail from the Meatropolis. Feel free to reskin (ha!) them to fit your game, of course.
d8 Hit Die. Undead. Incorporeal except to you. Carries you inside it, like a gelatinous cube with long tendrils. Can interact instinctively with magic and the undead, but nothing else (besides you).
d10 Hit Die. Big, 2 armor, carries one person (will be annoyed and grab off anyone else). Attacks with big claw deal damage with advantage to someone grabbed.
d6 Hit Die. Can swim, can slosh across ground; 360 degree vision (no one will ambush you if it can warn you). If it's carrying you it'll give you 10 minutes of air.
d6 Hit Die. Like a cephalopod and a centipede except it's all human arms. Too smart for anyone's own good. Can wield weapons, though only has the coordination to attack once a round.
d8 Hit Die. Undead, skeletal. 2 Armor. Carries 2 people, or one in heavy armor.
4d4 Hit Dice. Impractically huge, bus-sized. Space in carapace can carry whole party and supplies, like a vehicle. Burrows. Fears bright light, fire; will curl up like giant pillbug (crushes people inside).
d4 Hit Die. Can fly and glide; carries one person in light/no armor. Can disguise itself as leather cloak.
d10 Hit Die. Big swarm of small bugs; takes double damage from area attacks but half from targeted attacks. Can command them, they're surprisingly smart. Burrow. Willing to hide just under your skin (this deals damage equal to the number of Health of termeat you want to conceal). Can be surfed/ridden like a wave.
d6 Hit Die. Small, sneaky, won't let you ride it. Can call for other raptors' aid in a pinch.
10. Turtletoma. 2d6 Hit Dice. Big, 3 armor, very slow. Can carry the whole party, or one person and whole party's provisions/supplies. Ugly, but in that adorable twelve-eyed four-beaked way.